1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to railway hopper cars having side dump discharge openings and doors, and particularly to an actuating mechanism for locking and unlocking said doors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pertinent prior art patents concerned with locking and unlocking side discharge doors of hopper cars are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,284,111 Nov. 5, 1918 which discloses a drop door mechanism having a longitudinally reciprocable operating mechanism, 1,035,389 Aug. 13, 1912 and, 3,192,876 July 6, 1965 which show bottom dump hopper door mechanisms, 3,315,616 Apr. 25, 1967 which shows a motor actuated drop bottom hopper car having longitudinally reciprocable door latch engaging slide bars; and, and 3,408,956 Nov. 5, 1968 which shows a motor actuated door operating mechanism for side dumping hopper cars. The present invention is an improvement over the foregoing patents.